The borough of Manhattan in New York City contains 214 numbered east–west streets ranging from 1st to 228th, the majority of them designated in the Commissioners' Plan of 1811. These streets do not run exactly east–west, because the grid plan is aligned with the Hudson River, rather than with the cardinal directions. Thus, the majority of the Manhattan grid's "west" is approximately 29 degrees north of true west; the angle differs above 155th Street, where the grid initially ended. The grid now covers the length of the island from 14th Street north.

All numbered streets carry an East or West prefix – for example, East 10th Street or West 10th Street – which is demarcated at Broadway below 8th Street, and at Fifth Avenue at 8th Street and above. The numbered streets carry crosstown traffic. In general, but with numerous exceptions, even-numbered streets are one-way eastbound and odd-numbered streets are one-way westbound. Most wider streets, and a few of the narrow ones, carry two-way traffic.

Although the numbered streets begin just north of East Houston Street in the East Village, they generally do not extend west into Greenwich Village, which already had established, named streets when the grid plan was laid out by the Commissioners' Plan of 1811. Some streets in that area that do continue farther west change direction before reaching the Hudson River.

The highest numbered street on Manhattan Island is 220th Street, but Marble Hill is also within the borough of Manhattan, so the highest street number in the borough is 228th Street. The numbering system continues in the Bronx, up to 263rd Street, though east of Van Cortlandt Park the system ends at 243rd Street. The lowest numbered street in Manhattan is East 1st Street, which runs through Alphabet City near East Houston Street. There are also three streets numbered as First, Second and Third Place in Battery Park City.

Details

1st to 7th Streets

East 1st Street begins just north of East Houston Street at Avenue A and continues to the Bowery. Peretz Square, a small triangular sliver park where Houston Street, First Street and First Avenue meet marks the spot where the grid takes hold.Peretz Square, New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. Retrieved July 12, 2007. "A sliver of Manhattan bounded by Houston Street, First Street and First Avenue, Peretz Square marks the spot where the tangled jumble of lower Manhattan meets the regularity of the Commissioners' Plan street grid."

East 2nd Street begins just north of East Houston Street at Avenue C and also continues to the Bowery. The east end of East 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 7th streets is Avenue D, with East 6th Street continuing further eastward and connecting to the FDR Drive.

The west end of most of these streets is the Bowery and Third Avenue, except for 3rd Street (formerly Amity Place), which continues to Sixth Avenue; and 4th Street, which extends west and then north to 13th Street in Greenwich Village. Great Jones Street connects East 3rd to West 3rd.

East 5th Street goes west to Cooper Square, but is interrupted between Avenues B and C by The Earth School and Public School 364, and between First Avenue and Avenue A by the Village View Apartments.

East 6th Street contains many Indian restaurants between First and Second AvenuesThe Big Apple: Little India (East 6th Street in Manhattan) and is sometimes known as Curry Row.

Lengths of streets Street Start End Length1st StreetAvenue A/E Houston StreetBowery2nd StreetAvenue D/E Houston StreetBowery3rd Street (East)Avenue DBowery3rd Street (West)Broadway6th Avenue4th StreetAvenue DW 13th Street5th StreetAvenue DCooper Square/Third Avenue6th StreetFDR DriveCooper Square/Third Avenue7th StreetAvenue DThird Avenue

8th and 9th streets

8th and 9th streets run parallel to each other, beginning at Avenue D, interrupted by Tompkins Square Park at Avenue B, resuming at Avenue A and continuing to Sixth Avenue. West 8th Street is an important local shopping street. 8th Street between Avenue A and Third Avenue is called St Mark's Place, but it is counted in the length below.

The M8 bus route operates eastbound on 8th Street and westbound on 9th Street between Avenue A and Sixth Avenue. 8th Street has one subway station: Eighth Street–New York University, served by the N, R and W Trains. (N late nights and weekends, R all times except late nights, and W all times except late nights and weekends.)

Lengths of streets Street Start End Length8th StreetAvenue DSixth Avenue9th StreetAvenue DSixth Avenue

10th to 13th streets

Amos, Hammond, and Troy Streets were in the Greenwich Village street grid before 1811. In the middle 19th century they were renamed as the western parts of West 10th, 11th and 12th Streets, respectively.

10th Street () begins at the FDR Drive and Avenue C. West of Sixth Avenue, it turns southward about 40 degrees to join the Greenwich Village street grid and continue to West Street on the Hudson River. Because West 4th Street turns northward at Sixth Avenue, it intersects 10th, 11th, 12th and 13th streets in the West Village. The M8 bus operates on 10th Street in both directions between Avenue D and Avenue A, and eastbound between West Street and Sixth Avenue. 10th Street has an eastbound bike lane from West Street to the East River. In 2009, the two-way section of 10th Street between Avenue A and the East River had bicycle markings and sharrows installed, but it still has no dedicated bike lane. West 10th Street was previously named Amos Street for Charles Christopher Amos, who is also the namesake of Charles Street and Christopher Street. The end of West 10th Street toward the Hudson River was once the home of Newgate Prison, New York City's first prison and the United States' second.

11th Street is in two parts. It is interrupted by the block containing Grace Church between Broadway and Fourth Avenue. East 11th Street runs from Fourth Avenue to Avenue C and runs past Webster Hall. West 11th Street runs from Broadway to West Street. 11th Street and Sixth Avenue was the location of the Old Grapevine tavern from the 1700s to its demolition in the early 20th century. 12th Street is in two parts. Traffic on most of 12th Street runs from west to east. The first segment of West 12th Street runs southwest to northeast from West Street to Greenwich Street, then turns straight west to east. At Fifth Avenue, West 12th Street becomes East 12th Street, and ends at Avenue C. One block of 12th Street is for pedestrians only and resumes at Szold Place, which runs from north to south toward 10th Street as a continuation of the flow of traffic from East 12th Street which runs east to west from Avenue D to Szold Place.

Additionally, Little West 12th Street runs parallel to West 13th Street from West Street to the northeast corner of Ninth Avenue and Gansevoort Street.

13th Street is in three parts. The first runs from Avenue C to Avenue D. The second starts at a dead end, just before Avenue B, and runs to Greenwich Avenue, and the third part is from Eighth Avenue to Tenth Avenue.

Lengths of 10th to 13th streets Street Start End Length10th StreetFDR DriveWest Street11th StreetAvenue CWest Street12th StreetAvenue CWest Street13th StreetAvenue CAvenue D13th Streetdead end (Av B)Tenth Avenue

14th Street

14th Street is a main numbered street in Manhattan. It begins at Avenue C and ends at West Street. Its length is . It has six subway stations: First Avenue () Third Avenue () 14th Street – Union Square () 14th Street / Sixth Avenue () 14th Street – Eighth Avenue ()

From Avenue A or Avenue C to West Street there is service M14A/D bus. At 6th Avenue, there is a PATH stop with service to Midtown Manhattan and New Jersey.

15th Street

Traffic on 15th Street moves from east to west. The street formerly started at the FDR Drive, but most of the street between the Drive and Avenue C was permanently closed, as was the 15th Street exit from the Drive, after the September 11 attacks, due to the presence of the Con Edison East River Generating Station there. Only Con Edison personnel have access to the closed portion.

The street is then interrupted by Stuyvesant Town from Avenue C to First Avenue. It then continues to Union Square East (Park Avenue South) where it is interrupted by Union Square It picks up again at Union Square West, and continues unimpeded to Eleventh Avenue at the Hudson River.

Sights along 15th Street include: the southern border of Stuyvesant Square; the landmarked Friends Meeting House and Seminary at Rutherford Place; Irving Plaza at Irving Place; the Daryl Roth Theatre in the landmarked Union Square Savings Bank Building, across the street from the Zeckendorf Towers at Union Square East; the Google Building between Eighth and Ninth Avenues; Chelsea Market, between Ninth and Tenth Avenues; and the High Line near Tenth Avenue.

15th Street is in length.

16th Street

Traffic on 16th Street moves from west to east. It starts at Eleventh Avenue at the Hudson River, and runs until it is interrupted at Union Square West (Broadway) by Union Square. It picks up again on the other side of the park at Union Square East (Park Avenue South), but is shortly stopped again by Stuyvesant Square from between Second and Third Avenues (Rutherford Place) to between First and Second Avenues (Perlman Place). At First Avenue, it is interrupted by Stuyvesant Town, and starts up again at Avenue C. It then dead ends between that avenue and the FDR Drive.

Sights on 16th Street include: the High Line near Tenth Avenue; Chelsea Market between Ninth and Tenth Avenues; the Google Building between Eighth and Ninth Avenues; the row houses at 5, 7, 9, 17, 19, 21 & 23 West 16th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues; the Bank of the Metropolis at Union Square West; and St. George's Church at Rutherford Place.

16th Street is long.

17th to 19th streets

17th, 18th and 19th streets start at First Avenue and finish at Eleventh Avenue.

On 17th Street (), traffic runs one way along the street, from east to west excepting the stretch between Broadway and Park Avenue South, where traffic runs in both directions. It forms the northern borders of both Union Square (between Broadway and Park Avenue South) and Stuyvesant Square. Composer Antonín Dvořák's New York home was located at 327 East 17th Street, near Perlman Place. The house was razed by Beth Israel Medical Center after it received approval of a 1991 application to demolish the house and replace it with an AIDS hospice with financing from the photographer Robert Mapplethorpe.Horowitz, Joseph. "Music; Czech Composer, American Hero", The New York Times, February 10, 2002. Retrieved November 3, 2007. "IN 1991, the New York City Council was petitioned by Beth Israel Hospital to permit the demolition of a small row house at 327 East 17th Street, once the home of Antonín Dvořák." Time Magazine was started at 141 East 17th Street.

18th Street has a local subway station at the crossing with Seventh Avenue, served by the 1 (and the 2 at late nights) on the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line. There used to be an 18th Street station on the IRT Lexington Avenue Line at the crossing with Park Avenue South. This street is home to the IAC Building, designed by Frank Gehry.

19th Street travels west for most of its length, except between Tenth and Eleventh Avenues the travel direction is reversed and traffic flows east.

Lengths of streets Street Start End Length17th StreetFirst AvenueEleventh Avenue18th StreetFirst AvenueEleventh Avenue19th StreetFirst AvenueEleventh Avenue

20th to 22nd streets 20th Street starts at Avenue C, and 21st and 22nd Streets begin at First Avenue. They all end at Eleventh Avenue. Travel on the last block of the 20th, 21st, and 22nd streets, between Tenth and Eleventh Avenues, is in the opposite direction than it is on the rest of the respective street. 20th Street is very wide from the Avenue C to First Avenue.